That would seem to me to be the obvious fixture, particularly as it would be their first in Superleague 2012.

In a word yes, you will get all the McCewans lager shirt wearers coming back in droves just like we have the Ellegren brigade when we get to a final.

I think curiosity will be on the agenda for some folks. I know people who havn't been to KR for years because of the state of the ground but will attend the new ground. I think the hospitality suites will sell out as well. Did Wigan have a sell out when they played at JJB for their 1st game? I'm sure it didn't. It took a while for it to build up so we shall just have to wait and see.

No they didn't, which was the point I was making. I do think Saints v Widnes would stand a chance though if it was the first game of the season.

given that we had about 5 'last games' at KR, with the actual last game being about 3 games after the "official" last game, there was no focal point for the celebrations.

I can foresee however, that there will be about 3 or 4 "first" games at the start of 2012 - which will have the same impact.

No but dare did against wakey on their opening game at the HJ - it was well over capacity; they got their hands slapped from the safety boys after that game.
Crowdwise, they have never really looked back even when they were playing w**ky.

Prior to that gates at wilderspool were.... welll....dire!

There will be a significant increase in attendance for the first game compared to the attendance at KR (except for Wigan/Warrington) and I am fairly confident that 95-100% of Saints tickets will sell out for the first league game regardless of who we play but selling 3500+ away tickets is going to be a struggle against more than half of the league even for the first fixture so I tend to agree with those who have suggested Widnes as the first game, they'll want to be out in force back in SL, they've always travelled pretty well to KR too.

So few teams have good travelling support at the moment that over the course of the season I would expect Wigan and Warrington matches to sell out and good crowds against whoever is first, Leeds, Widnes, Hull, and of course Hull KR... the rest I've no idea what to expect, but for Saints to average near to 13,500-14,000 (about 20% up on KR) they are going to have to pull in a base crowd of at least 12,000 against the teams with minimal support.

I'd rather we did not play Widnes, Warrington or Wigan as an opening game. All 3 are capable of selling out on their own. The first match brings it's own draw as it's a first for everyone regardless of who you play. eg if we played Salford for the opening game, we would get more in than Salford 10 games in. Wigan and Warrington will sell out whether first or last game.

So it makes more sense to maximise revenue and play a team like Catalan or Quins where crowds are traditionally lower than other teams and get more people in.

In the end the RFL will decide and not Saints, as it is, it could be a friendly that is the opening game.

The very first game WILL be a friendly as the club have to demonstrate safety procedures to get a safety certificate , I am sure i read that they have to do this before the Stadium goes "live" , I am pretty sure that a boxing day game against Widnes was mooted , it would be a nice thank you for playing there all year , also the first full game should be Cas , as that would be a nice follow on from the last game at KR

Saints will have a say to the RFL who they play in the 1st game at the new ground, Wire did knowing they would sell out easiliy regardless, so they picked Wakefield.

this is a very very good point, why chose Wire or Wigan when you know that gets number in anyway

Given the size of the stadium, you might need more than one ramp-up game. Pretty sure that was the case at the LSV as we held one game at 4,500 capacity then another at 7,000 before being allowed to open to full (12,700) capacity.